Wallace & Gromit is a British claymation comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, but has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, along with his companion Gromit, a silent yet loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic dog. The first short film, A Grand Day Out, was finished and made public in 1989. Wallace was originally voiced by veteran actor Peter Sallis and later by Ben Whitehead. Gromit is largely silent, instead communicating only through means of facial expressions and body language.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber Kt is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs have been widely recorded and were successful outside of their parent musicals, such as "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita, "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and "Memory" from Cats. In 2001, The New York Times referred to him as "the most commercially successful composer in history". The Daily Telegraph ranked him the "fifth most powerful person in British culture" in 2008, with lyricist Don Black writing "Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical."
Alfred Brendel KBE is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.
Julian Miles Holland, is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine, The The and Bono.
Aled Jones, is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for BBC Radio Wales and Classic FM.
James Roderick Moir, better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Vic and Bob. He is known for his surreal sense of humour.
Matthew Richard Lucas is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Rock Profile, Little Britain, and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). Lucas played the role of Nardole in the BBC series Doctor Who (2015–2017), and has also appeared in films, such as The Infidel (2010), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), and Small Apartments (2012). In 2020, he became the co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding.
Claire Jane Sweeney is an English actress, singer and television personality, best known for playing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside and playing the role of Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago in London's West End. She also starred opposite Patrick Swayze in the 2005 West End revival of Guys and Dolls, the musical.
Steven Alexander James, FRSA is an English musician and songwriter, as well as a journalist and cheesemaker. Best known as the bassist of the band Blur, he has also played with temporary bands Fat Les, Me Me Me, WigWam and Bad Lieutenant.
Huw Meredydd Stephens is a Welsh radio presenter, broadcasting on BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini known by his stage name Alberto Semprini, or Semprini, was an English pianist, composer and conductor, known for his appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio.
Nitin Sawhney is a British Indian musician, producer and composer, as well as former comic actor. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, his work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions.
Timothy David Minchin is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, and songwriter who refers to himself as a call comedic minstrel. He was born in Northampton, England, to Australian parents, and raised in Perth, Western Australia.
Shaun Williamson is an English actor, singer, media personality, and occasional presenter, best known for his role as Barry Evans in EastEnders and as a satirical version of himself in the BBC/HBO sitcom Extras.
Shaun the Sheep is a British-German stop-motion animated children's television series spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise. The series stars Shaun—a sheep previously featured in the 1995 short film A Close Shave and in the Shopper 13 short film from the 2002 Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions series—and his madcap adventures around a small farm as the leader of his flock.
Murray Jonathan Gold is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for Doctor Who from 2005, until he stepped down in 2018 after the tenth series aired in 2017. He has been nominated for five BAFTAs.
Horacio Gutiérrez is a Cuban-American classical pianist known for his performances of works in the Romantic Repertoire.
Matthew Strachan is an English composer and singer-songwriter.
Shaun Patrick McKenna is an English dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter.
Simon Bookish is the stage name of Leo Chadburn, a British musician and composer, known for his work in experimental, electronic, pop and classical music. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6 Music, and Resonance FM. Originally from Coalville, Leicestershire, he moved to London and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1997 to 2001.
